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Development of social spacing in normal and mentally retarded children

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Abstract

Distances between closest playmates were measured during free play in mentally retarded and normal grade school children. Unobtrusive observation techniques minimized interference and a spacious playground environment was chosen to avoid effects of confining walls on spatial behavior. Younger children (grades 1–3) kept closer distances than older children (grades 4–6), independent of clinical history or sex (p<.0001). Parallels are drawn with findings of previous observational studies in adults and non-human primates; two hypotheses, based on cognitive development and social disturbance, are proposed to explain the findings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mental Retardation Research Center, UCLA Medical School-NPI, University of California, 760 Westwood Plaza, 90024, Los Angeles, CA

    J. Wesley Burgess

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  1. J. Wesley Burgess
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Additional information

This work was completed at the Department of Psychology, the University of California/Davis, Davis, CA.

Arlene Boyer and Patricia Siletto provided valuable assistance in collecting data. Kyle Fordyce, M.A., gave helpful suggestions for revising the manuscript. Support was provided by N.S.F. Neurobiology Grant BNS 7906843 and Sigma Xi grants to J.W. Burgess.

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Burgess, J.W. Development of social spacing in normal and mentally retarded children. J Nonverbal Behav 6, 89–95 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00987284

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